Impact of indoor ozone exposure on odouriferous VOCs released by fibre boards

Decorative wooden panels are one of the primary sources of indoor volatile organic compounds (VOCs), but the odour composition released by them is not clear. The objectives of the research are to identify odour levels and compounds produced by indoor furniture produced by wooden boards. The result of the study shows that VOCs generated by wooden boards include not only formaldehyde, toluene, etc., which endanger human health, but also other odour producing compounds, such as hexanal and acetic acid, causing discomfort to the occupants. Due to the increasing trend of tropospheric ozone (O₃), the infiltration rate of O₃ entering via ventilation is rising. The composition of indoor odour compounds by the wooden board and the influence of indoor O₃ on odour and purification performance are also explored in this study. This study qualitatively and quantitatively examined the effect of 100 ppb O₃ exposure on odour. Herein, two types of medium density fibre board (MDFB) were selected as experimental materials, and gas chromatography-olfactometry-mass spectrometry (GC-OMS) was performed to identify the odour compounds released with and without 100 ppb O₃. The result reveals that the comprehensive odour intensity of the MDFB-1 and MDFB-2 increased by 0.88 and 0.33 respectively, after O₃ revelation. Indoor O₃ has opposite effects on the odour emitted by MDFB materials. The results explain the odour control research on wooden board emissions.